Scientists train Kinect to follow your tongue wagging

We've seen Microsoft's diverse little Xbox motion controller go on to do a heck of a lot more than the company ever indeed, but up to now, it hasn't really done much to capture the majesty that is the human tongue. Thankfully, a team of researchers at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan are working to right that wrong, developing a system that can detect tongue movements, using the relative positions of a user's eyes and nose. The feature has been demoed with an Asteroids-like shooting game -- stick out your tongue to fire and move it left or right to adjust your aim. The whole thing has some practical applications beyond just making people looking goofy on video -- scientists see it as a way to train the tongue for folks with speech and swallowing disorders, one that doesn't require an unhygienic tongue attachment. Don't worry, you don't have to attach anything to your mouth to watch the video after the break, either.